Ditcher having slidable boom supported bucket control means



Feb. 16, 1954 M. C. WILLS ET AL DITCHER HAVING SLIDABLE BOOM SUPPORTEDBUCKET CONTROL MEANS Filed April 14, 1952 I F 4. jg INVENTOR5.

6. 14 4 ($2555 l V/l/s Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE Wayne J. Wills Application April 14, 1952, Serial No. 282,233

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in earth handling equipment, andhas for its primary object to improve upon the ditching attachment fortractors, forming the subject matter of our co-pending application,Serial No. 195,928, filed November 16, 1950, this being acontinuation-in-part of said. (so-pending application.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a ditching machineincluding a boom upon which is swingably mounted an earthhandling bucketor dipper, there being included within the concepts hereof, novel meansfor imparting swinging movement to the bucket and including a slidemounted upon the boom itself.

Another important object of this invention is to provide actuating meansfor swingable buckets forming a part of ditching machines or other earthhandling equipment having tremendous power and being subject to littlewear or other operating difficulties, and consisting of a memberreciprocable longitudinally of the boom itself and operably connectedwith the swinging bucket through pivotal linkage.

A still further object of this invention is to provide bucket-controlmeans as just above set forth, including hydraulic mechanism for slidingthe control member longitudinally of the boom upon which it is mounted,the hydraulic means being disposed so as to impart direct thrust andpulling energy upon the slide member without the lost motion thatbecomesnecessary when such actuating means is rendered swingable.

Other objects hereof include the way in which there is provided aswingable boom adapted to be moved on a plurality of axes; the way inwhich the dipper control means is mounted on the boom for movementtherewith; the manner of including a bucket arm depending from the boomand swingable through connection with the arm itself below its pivotalconnection with the boom; and many other more minor objects, all ofwhich will be made clear as the following specification progresses.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a ditcher having slidableboom-supported bucket control means made pursuant to our presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View illustrating the position of thevarious parts when the bucket is in a dumping position.

Fig. 3 is a detailed, cross-sectional View taken on line III-III of Fig.1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on lineIV-IV of Fig. 1.

As in our co-pending application above identified, the ditching assemblyhereof is adapted to be mounted upon a tractor shown fragmentarily onlyin the drawing and designated broadly by the numeral It. A frame 12rests directly upon the ground as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when theapparatus hereof is in use, said frame l2 being operably connected withthe power-life mechanism of tractor Iii for elevation, and therefore,for support by the tractor l6 dur g transfer from one point of use toanother.

Frame l2 has the valving mechanism M for controlling various hydraulicmotivating means hereinafter to be set forth, so mounted thereon as tobe readily accessible to the operator of tractor ID.

A vertical member I5 is carried by the frame 12 for rotation on asubstantially vertical axis whereby to impart swinging movement to allparts hereinafter to be described, through substantially a degree arc.Hydraulic means, not herein illustrated, operably interconects themember I6 and the frame 12 for imparting such swinging movement.

The rotative tubular member It carries an elongated boom i8 by pivotalconnection 20, swinging movement of boom it on the horizontal axis 20,being accomplished by means of an hydraulic cylinder 22 having adouble-acting reciprocable piston therein. Cylinder 22 is pivotallysecured to the rotative member It by means of a pivot pin 26. The pistonwithin cylinder 22 has an elongated stem 26 pivctally joined to the booml8 intermediate the ends of the latter by a pivot pin 23. A bracket ason the outermost free end of the boom l8, remote from pivot point 20,consists of a pair of opposed, spaced plates not herein illustrated,between which is disposed a dipper arm 32. The uppermost end of thedipper 32 is pivctally secured to the bracket 30 by a bolt or the like3%. Swingable arm 32 has a bucket or dipper 36 secured to the lowermostend thereof preferably by a pivot pin it. One manner of providingadjustability of the bucket 36 with respect to arm 32, includes theutilization of a link 40 connecting the bucket 36 and the arm 32intermediate the ends thereof by means of a bracket 42. A plurality ofopenings M in the bracket 42 permit adjustment of the link td. Such isthe means disclosed in our co-pending application above identified.

Alternate means for so adjusting the bucket 36 with respect to arm 32,are disclosed in our co-pending applications filed on even date herewithand entitled Dipper Control for Ditching Machines.

In lieu of the means disclosed in our application, Serial No. 195,928,for swinging the arm 32 with respect to the boom l8, there is hereinprovided a slide member or collar 45 on the boom [8. The collar 48surrounds the boom 18 as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, and is adaptedfor reciprocation longitudinally of boom i8 as limited by theextensibility of a piston stem 48 for hydraulic cylinder 58.

In this connection, it is manifest that any type of cylinder-pistonassembly may be used for all of the hydraulic controls hereof, but byWay of further explanation, reference may be had to a novel hydrauliccylinder forming the subject matter of our co-pending application filedon even date herewith particularly adapted for this use. The cylinder 5%is joined to the bracket 38 as at 52 and the stem 48 has connection withthe collar 46 by means of a pivot pin 54. It is noted in Fig. 4 of thedrawing that collar 46 has a pair of depending ears 58 between which thestem 48 is disposed. The ears 58 also embrace a pair of extensions 58 onan elongated link 58 that is pivotally joined to a bracket 62 by pivotpin 84.

,Bracket 52 is in opposed relationship to the bracket 42 on arm 30 andis likewise provided with a number of openings 85 for adjustablyreceiving the proximal end of link 68. Pivot pin 54 serves therefore,not only to pivotally receive th piston stem 48, but the connecting link60.

It is apparent thatsliding movement of the collar 45 along thelongitudinal axis of the boom l8 upon which it is slidably mounted,imparts swinging movement to the arm 32 through link B0. Retraction ofthe stem 48 into the cylinder 50 as controlled from unit [4, moves thecollar 45 upwardly along the boom l8 toward the uppermost end of boom[8, thereby swinging arm 32 upwardly and moving the bucket 36 to adumping position as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. Extension of thestem 48 shifts the collar 45 toward the pivot point 28, therebyimparting a pulling force to the arm 32 through link 68, thereby forcingthe bucket 38 into the earth or other material to be handled thereby.

The entire assembly for controlling the bucket 36 being mounted on theboom I8, can, without efiecting the relative position of bucket 36, beswung not only on the horizontal axis 28; but on the vertical axis ofthe rotative member It.

While cylinder 58 and the stem 48 are both pivotally secured to the boom[8 and to the collar 48 respectively to avoid any jammin whatsoever, theforce that is applied to slide member 46 is straightforward, andtherefore, extremely powerful as compared with actuation that includesswinging of the hydraulic assembly.

Other advantages resulting from the use of control means of thischaracter will become apparent to those skilled in this field, andtherefore, such uses as fairly come within the spirit of this inventionas defined by the appended claims, are contemplated hereby.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a material handling machine, a support; an elongated boom; meansswingably mounting the boom on the support; structure interconnectingthe support and the boom for raising and lowering the same; an armswingably secured to the boom; a dipper on the arm; a reciprocablemember on the boom separate from said structure; and means connectingthe member and the arm for swingin the dipper as the member isreciprocated, said means comprising a link having pivotal connectionwith said member and with said arm.

2. In a material handling machine, an elongated boom; an arm swingablysecured to the boom; a dipper on the arm; a member mounted on the boomfor reciprocation along the longitudinal axis thereof; means connectingthe member and the arm for swinging the dipper as the member isreciprocated; and an extensible device interconnecting the member andthe boom for reciprocating the member.

3. In a material handling machine, an elongated boom; an arm swingablysecured to the boom; a dipper on the arm; a member mounted on the boomfor reciprocation along the longitudinal axis thereof; means connectingthe member and the arm for swinging the dipper as the member isreciprocated; and an extensible device interconnecting the member andthe boom for reciprocating the member, said means comprising a linkhaving pivotal connection with said member and with said arm, saiddevice including a hydraulic cylinder having a double acting,reciprocable piston therein.

MARION C. WILLS. WAYNE J. WILLS. EVAN E. DORKINS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date D. 162,873 Pilch Apr. 10, 1951 1,489,042 Pugh Apr. 1, 19242,470,147 Cramer May 17, 1949

